Written Answers Thursday 30 June 2005

Scottish Executive

Adoption

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its consultation paper on the recommendations of Phase II of the adoption policy review.

Peter Peacock: I am pleased to announce that we are today publishing our detailed response to the report of the second phase of the adoption policy review, which was published on 10 June 2005.

  The Executive accepts almost all of the report’s recommendations, and strongly supports its central proposal for a new legal framework for those children who can no longer live with their families, to complement adoption. Responses to the consultation paper are invited by 31 October 2005.

  The report is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/06/27140607.

  The Executive’s consultation paper is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/06/29170235.

  Printed copies of the report and our consultation paper will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre in the next week (Bib. numbers 36862 and 36863 respectively).

Air Services

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of destination marketing support it granted for new air routes in each of the last three years.

Tavish Scott: The Route Development Fund does not currently provide marketing support for new air routes. Part of VisitScotland’s international marketing budget was spent, however, on campaigns which promoted direct access routes. This amounted to £3 million in 2003-04 and 2004-05, and is expected to rise to around £4 million in 2005-06.

Air Services

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it uses when awarding destination marketing support for new air routes.

Tavish Scott: The Route Development Fund does not currently provide marketing support for new air routes. The criteria used by VisitScotland for route prioritisation and marketing investment are, however, as follows:

  
Importance of the market – current size of the market to the UK and to Scotland; growth potential outbound in general and to Scotland; product fit for the touring, city breaks, golf, walking, ancestral and business tourism portfolios.
Scope of service to increase inbound traffic – number of seats and percentage of those inbound, attractiveness of fare structure, and the scope to generate visitors from those areas of a country which have greatest propensity for outbound tourism.
Opportunity to make an impact in the market – whether VisitScotland already has a base of activity in the market place, and active investment by airlines in the promotion of Scotland routes.

Air Services

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for the provision of destination marketing support in respect of new air routes.

Tavish Scott: The Route Development Fund does not currently provide marketing support for new air routes.

  The promotion of accessibility will, however, continue to be a major strategic aim for VisitScotland; which will continue to operate on the basis of its route prioritisation criteria.

Air Services

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new air routes were supported by route development funding in each of the last three years, broken down by airport.

Tavish Scott: A total of 29 routes have been supported since the inception in November 2002 of the Executive’s Route Development Fund as follows:

  

Airport
No of RDF Routes Started During 2003
No of RDF Routes Started During 2004
No of RDF routes Started January to June 2005
Totals


Aberdeen*
-
3
2
5


Edinburgh
6
2
1
9


Inverness*
1
1
-
2


Glasgow International
-
2
1
3


Glasgow Prestwick
3
3
2
8


Sumburgh
-
1(summer only)
**
1


Kirkwall
1
-
-
1


Totals
11
12
6
29



  Notes:

  *One new route from Aberdeen and one from Inverness will start in July 2005

  **The route which started from Sumburgh in summer 2004 will also operate in summer 2005.

Air Services

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it applies when awarding route development funding to new routes.

Tavish Scott: The Route Development Fund (RDF) channels its support to routes which deliver a net economic benefit for Scotland. These will be to routes which are likely to enhance business connectivity or which have the potential to bring appreciable numbers of inbound tourists to Scotland. The level of investment in new routes is determined by the results of route economic appraisals.

  The criteria are:

  
The proposed route must be a new route;
The route must deliver a net economic benefit to the Scottish economy based on its projected carryings of inbound and outbound business passengers and inbound leisure passengers;
An international route serving Aberdeen or Dundee airports must be operated year-round, at an average frequency (over two consecutive scheduling seasons) of at least three round trip services per week. Key UK domestic air services can also be supported; 
An international route serving Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports must be operated year-round, at an average frequency (over two consecutive scheduling seasons) of at least five round trip services per week, and
The level of frequency for new air services in the Highlands and Islands is flexibly applied and the fund can be used to support intra-Scotland, intra-UK and seasonal services. This reflects the ability of the areas to sustain air services in the long-term and the Executive’s aim that the fund should be inclusive and embrace all of Scotland’s diverse communities.

Air Services

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide route development funding for routes that operate three days per week.

Tavish Scott: The minimum frequency thresholds for support from the Route Development Fund (RDF) have been reduced in the case of international routes from Aberdeen and Dundee, in recognition of their relatively limited catchment sizes, relative lack of international services, and distance from the Edinburgh and Glasgow International Airports.

  An international route serving Aberdeen or Dundee airports must be operated year-round, at an average frequency (over two consecutive scheduling seasons) of at least three round trip services per week.

Air Services

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for the provision of future route development funding.

Tavish Scott: In the recent spending review, additional funds were allocated to the continuation of the Route Development Fund which will allow new routes commencing in the next two to three years to be supported.

Alcohol Misuse

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it will make available for alcohol rehabilitation schemes in each of the next three years.

Lewis Macdonald: We have awarded specific funding for alcohol treatment and rehabilitation of £5 million in 2005-06. A further announcement about funding of alcohol treatment and rehabilitation will be made shortly.

Enterprise

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many food retail premises there were in Scotland in (a) 1980 and (b) 2004.

Allan Wilson: (a) The number of food retail premises in 1980 is not held centrally.

  (b) The number of food retail premises in 2004 was 6,830.

  Source: Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) which is produced by the Office for National Statistics.

  Note: The IDBR was set up in 1996 and information of reasonable quality was not available until 1998. No comparable data is available prior to 1998.

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13348 by Ms Margaret Curran on 21 February 2005, what the First Minister’s official engagements were from 1 January 2005 to the most recent available date; who was present at each engagement; what the (a) date and (b) location was of each engagement, and what issues were discussed.

Ms Margaret Curran: Arrangements are being put in place to routinely publish retrospective information about recent ministerial engagements through our publication scheme maintained under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

  The details that you have requested will be published in future in the Scottish ministers’ area of the Scottish Executive website on a regular basis. I will write to the member once this information has been placed on the website http://sh45inta/about/FCSD/Cabsec/00014944/page1425518831.aspx.

Fuel Poverty

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to end fuel poverty by 2016.

Malcolm Chisholm: To date we have installed over 52,000 central heating systems and insulated over 200,000 homes across Scotland through our programmes. Research on the first year of the central heating programme showed that, of the clients who were fuel poor, nearly nine out of 10 were lifted out of fuel poverty after the programme. In addition, we have recently produced a leaflet for advice providers to inform them and their clients of options for assistance with fuel poverty related problems.

Housing

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered introducing a requirement for gas and electrical safety certificates to be produced by homeowners selling domestic property.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Housing Bill currently before Parliament would require those selling a domestic property to provide certain information to potential purchasers. The information in this purchaser’s information pack will be prescribed in regulations. We expect it to include a property condition survey – the Single Survey - and documents such as a Property Enquiry Certificate, details of factoring arrangements and warranties, guarantees and planning permissions for major works including extensions, roofs and timber treatment, all of which are presently provided to the purchaser towards the end of the transaction. As householders are not generally required to have gas or electrical safety certificates, we do not plan to include them in the requirements for the pack. We do, however, expect the Single Survey to include information relating to the general condition and functionality of the gas and electrical appliances.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17037 by Cathy Jamieson on 13 June 2005, which part of the contract between the Scottish Ministers and Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd addresses payments made to Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited, Premier Prison Services Ltd or Premier Custodial Group Ltd.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  
The answer to S2W-17037 incorrectly gave the link to the Reliance contract. The correct link to the Kilmarnock Contract is: http://www.sps.gov.uk/keydocs/kilmarnock/ContractSchE.htm. 


  I apologise for any confusion this error may have caused.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the level of service in prisons is affected by staff turnover and, if so, in what way and whether the provision of information on this issue is in the public interest.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  
We do not consider that the level of staff turnover in SPS affects adversely the performance of our service.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-17045 and S2W-17046 by Cathy Jamieson on 14 June 2005, whether it considers that the dismissal of Premier prison officers employed to carry out the functions of the contract between the Scottish Prison Service and Premier Prison Services Ltd for the management of HM Prison Kilmarnock is a matter of public interest and, if so, what involvement it has in any instances of dismissal.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  
The dismissal of Prisoner Custody Officers is a matter for the company. The SPS has no involvement. I refer the member to the answer to S2W-17045 and S2W-17046, answered on 14 June 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-17045 and S2W-17046 by Cathy Jamieson on 14 June 2005, whether the answers indicate that there has been no communication between either Premier Prison Services Ltd and itself or the Scottish Prison Service and itself in relation to the dismissal of any Premier prison officer for disciplinary offences in the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  
There is on-going discussion with Premier Prison Services on a wide range of issues. As stated in the answer to S2W-17045, answered on 14 June 2005, however, disciplinary action and the dismissal of PCOs are entirely matters for the company and not ones on which SPS holds information. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17043 by Cathy Jamieson on 14 June 2005, whether Premier Prison Services Ltd has given any indication when it will complete the investigation into the allegations made in the BBC documentary in respect of HM Prison Kilmarnock.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15194 by Cathy Jamieson on 14 April 2005, whether the Scottish Prison Service gave directions to Premier Prison Services Ltd to have the investigation into the allegations made in the BBC documentary in respect of HM Prison Kilmarnock completed by a particular date, and, if so, by what date.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  
As I stated in my previous answer I have discussed the issues raised by the BBC broadcast with the Chief Executive of Premier Custodial Group and with those within SPS responsible for the oversight of the contract. Premier commissioned an independent report from Professor Kevin Powers regarding their suicide prevention procedures. That report was published on 28 June 2005.

Transport

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Committee of the Council on Tribunals regulates the effectiveness and activities of traffic commissioners on issues involving public service passenger buses and taxis.

Tavish Scott: The role of the Council on Tribunals and its Scottish Committee is to keep under review and to report on the constitution and working of tribunals, including matters such as the rules of procedure under which tribunals operate. The Traffic Commissioner for the Scottish Traffic Area is categorised as one of the tribunals supervised by the Scottish Committee.

  I understand that any person seeking redress against a commissioner’s decision may appeal to the Transport Tribunal or the courts.

Transport

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Committee of the Council on Tribunals regulates the effectiveness and activities of traffic commissioners in Scotland on issues involving heavy goods vehicles and, if not, which government body does.

Tavish Scott: Matters concerning the regulation of the Traffic Commissioners for the Scottish Traffic Area in relation to road freight are reserved.

  The role of the Council on Tribunals and its Scottish Committee is to keep under review and to report on the constitution and working of tribunals, including matters such as the rules of procedure under which tribunals operate.

  I understand that any person seeking redress against a commissioner’s decision may appeal to the Transport Tribunal or the courts.

Warm Deal Programme

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take action to ensure that there is a single point of access in respect of applications for grants under the warm deal programme.

Malcolm Chisholm: We will consider points of access alongside other issues when considering the future of the warm deal and the central heating programme once the current programmes end in 2006.

Warm Deal Programme

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what changes are being made to the eligibility criteria for the warm deal programme.

Malcolm Chisholm: We will consider eligibility among other issues when considering the future of the programme once the current programme end in 2006.